Mechanism for shifting binder posts



April 14, 1925.

1,533,442 5 A. R. MEYER ET AL MECHANISM FOR SHIFTING BINPER POSTS FiledJune 18, 1921 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 I Z ZE Z '3, 1 /:5

5 m 1h. H L4\ April 14, 1925.

A. R MEYER ET AL IECHANISH FOR SHIFTIN BINDER POSTS I u r i f ilhmll i QFiled June 18. .1921

2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Patented Apr. 14, 1925.

UNITED? STATES PATENT oFFIcE- ARTHUR R. MEYER AND ELMER A. REED, OFCHICAGO, ILLINOIS, ASSIGLORS, BY

-MESNE ASSIGNMENTS, TO WILSON-JONES LOOSE ILLINOIS, A CORPORATION OFMASSACHUSETTS.

LEAF COMPANY, OF CHICAGO,

MECHANISM FOR SHIFTING BINDER POSTS.

Application filed June 18,- 1921. Serial No. 478,491.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that we, ARTHUR R. MEYER and ELMER A. REED, citizens of theUnited States, and residents of the city of Chicago, in the county ofCook and State of Ilhnois, have invented certain new and useful Imrovements in a Mechanism for Shifting ldinder Posts; and we do herebydeclare that the following is a fulhclear, and exact description of thesame, reference being had to the] accompanying drawings, and to thenumerals of reference marked thereon, which form a part of thisspecification.

Our invention relates to loose leaf binders in which leaves or pages can'be readily inserted and removed; and in which the said leaves areadapted to be locked by shiftable posts as set forth in our copendingapplication Serial No. 478,488, of which the device in this applicationrepresentsan improvement. i

It is an object of this invention to provide a practical and simplemechanism whereby the shiftable parts for locking and unlocking theleaves of the binder may be readily operated.

With these and other objects in view which will become apparent in thefollowing description and disclosures, our invention comprises the novelfeatures of con: struction hereinafter described and more specificallydefined in the appended claims.

In the accompanying drawings which illustrate a preferred embodiment ofour invention and in which similar reference characters refer to similarfeatures in the different views:

Figure 1 is a front plan view of our im proved binder showing the postsand actuating mechanism interiorly thereof.

Figure 2 is a section on line 22 of Figure 1, with a part of the coveromitted.

Figure 3 is an outer elevational view of the lower side plate takensubstantially on line 3-3 of Figure 4.

Figure 4 is a section on the line 44 of Figure 1. v

Figure 5 is a fragmentary section taken on the line 55 of Figurel.

Figure 6 is a section through the binder showing the post-actuatingmeans and the manner of securing the leaves in the binder.

Figure 7 is a plan view of the type of leaf adapted to be used in thebinder.

Figure 8 is a fragmentary section on the line 8-8 of Figure 4.

As shown on the drawings:

The binder to which our invention is ap- 1pllied comprises a )air ofside walls 1 each aving an inward y directed flange l atright anglesthereto. which slidin 1y rests upon the back or base plate 2 which isbent or crimped at its ends over the ends of said flanges to sheathe thesame as shown in F igure 1. The covers 3 are hinged to the upper ends ofthe side walls 1, and these walls 1 and covers are movable toward andfrom each other by means of a screw member 4.- extending lon itudinallyof the binder and anchored to the back plate 2 by means of bearingbrackets 5, and having reversely threaded sections upon which nuts orshiftable elements 6 are adjustable. A pair of links 7 are pivotallyconnected to each nut 6 and extend in divergent relation to the sidewalls 1 to which they areattached, so that upon rotation of the screw 4:the side walls 1 are moved either apart to open the binder, or togetherto close the binder.

The leaves of the binder are retained in place by means of a pluralityof relatively slidable posts 8 and 9 which in the present instancetelescope one within the other. These posts. are mounted upon platemembers 10 which are in'turn slidingly supported upon the side walls 1of the binder atthe proper heights. Each plate member 10 is slidinglysupported on an inner wall. 1 of the binder by means of a plurality ofheaded projections or studs 11 projecting therefrom and extendingthrough slots 12 in said side walls with the heads on the studs inslidable engagement with the outer surface of said wall and overlappingsaid slots. The length of these slots may govern the length oflongitudinal movement of the plate members 10 and hence that of theposts carried thereby, if desirable. This structure, however, forms nopart of our present invention except in so far as it is modified orco-acts with our present invention, since the same is described andclaimed in our copending' application. a

This invention relates more directly to means for shifting or operatingthe plate members 10, and contemplates mechanism for simultaneouslyshifting all the plate members at a single operation for locking 7 uponthe ,bolts 14 operable in either direction. The plate members 10 may bevariously connected to the screw memher 4. A preferable arrangement,however,

consists in using four plate members 10 and connecting each one to alink member 7. Accordingly, the two plate members 10 connected to onenut or shiftable element 6 will be shifted as a pair in one direction,while the two plate members 10 connected to the other nut or shiftableelements 6, will be shifted as a pair in the opposite directionoperation of the screw member 4.

One method of connecting the plate-members 10 to the links 7 has beenillustrated. As shown in Figures 2 and 4, each plate member is providedwith a downwardly extending leg having an integral lug 13 that.

is connected by a bolt or rivet 14 with a link 7, and to prevent thedownwardly extending leg portion from being bent inwardly or distortedwhen the sides of the binder are brought together in the act of closingthe same and also for properly limiting the movements of the posts andproviding a sliding hinge or lost motion connection, a bracket 16 ofangle shape having a'horizontal slotted flange, and a vertical flange isprovided to slidably anchor each 'plate member 10 to the side walls 1.The vertical flanges of said brackets lie closely adj acent the outersurface oftheside walls; the horizontal fiangesextending through slotsin said side walls in position to have the the slots thereof as shown inFlgures 1, 3 and 4. The slots in the horizontal flanges of the brackets16 should be equal to the length of the movement of the slidable plates10 and limit the movement thereof at the locking and unlocking positionof the posts. 7

As previously pointed out, the plate members 1O areconnected to move inpairs in opposite directions, and each such pair supports one or morepairs of relatively slidable posts 8 and 9. In the present instance,each pair of plate members supports two pairs of posts for cooperatingwith suitably formed slots such as the mushroom or T- shapedslots in theloose leaves illustrated in Figures 6 and 7.

The operation is as follows:

Assuming that the binder is open and that the posts are in unlockingposition as shown in full lines in Figure 6 in which position it isobvious that a leaf may be removed or in- -1,ess,44a

sorted. Whenit is desired to lock the leaves 1n the bmder, it is onlynecessa to apply a key to the. polygonal end17 o the screw element 4 andturn the same in the proper direction to move the nuts or shiftablemembers 6 toward each other. This operation will move the posts whichare connectedto said nuts into the longitudinal portions of the slots asshown in dotted lines in Figure 6 and securely lock the leaves againsttransverse or longitudinal movement. When the bolts or rivets 14 reachthe inner ends of the respective slots in the brackets 16, the saidposts will be in locking position with respect to the slots in the looseleaves. Further movement of the shiftable elements in the same directionwill then draw the sides of the binder toward each other as far as thetelescopic posts or the number of leaves will allow to close the binder.In unlocking the hinder the screw element 4 is turned in the oppositedirection to shift the nuts 6 outwardly. This operation will shift thebolts or rivets 14 in their slots to the outer ends of said slots tobring the leaf-holding means or posts into the entrance necks of theslots in the loose leaves to unlock the same. Further movement in the.same direction will then completely expand the sides of the binder. Thusthe first part of the operation in closing the binder will bring theposts to leaf-locking position while the first part of the operation inopenin the binder will bring the posts to leaflocking position. Thisoperation arises from the fact that far less force is required to shiftthe plate members 10 than is required to expand or con tract the binder,and further from the fact that the horizontal component of force actingon the plates 10 is much greater than the transverse force acting tocontract or expand the binder; there ore causing the bolts or rivets 14to first traverse the length of the slots in the brackets 16 for lockingor unlocking the leaves before the transverse component of force willcome into play for contracting or expanding the sides of the" binder. l

When the leaves of the binder are in un-' lockedposition, they can bereadily oii'set just as described in our copending application, and thebinder is adopted for both pen and ink and mechanical bookkeeping.

From the foregoing, it will be apparent that we have invented a simpleand practical mechanism for simultaneously shifting a lurality of postsin opposite directions for ocking or unlocking the loose leaves in abinder and also expanding or contracting the binding mechanism.

We are aware that numerous details of construction may be varied througha wide range without departing from the principles of this invention,and we therefore do not purpose limiting the patent granted thereonotherwise than necessitated by the prior art.

We claim as our invention:

1. In a loose leaf binder, a plurality of pairs of slidable platemembers, leaf-holding posts carried by said members, a longitudinalscrew member rotatably anchored in the binder and having a plurality ofreversely threaded sections, shiftable elements on said threadedsections, and means connecting said slidable plate members to saidshiftable elements.

2. In a loose leaf binder having a plurality of slidably supported platemembers and leaf-holding posts carried by said members, a screw memberhaving reversely threaded sections rotatably anchored in said binder,shiftable elements on said threaded sections, links connecting saidslidable plate members and shiftable elements, and brackets slidablyanchoring said links to the sides of said binder.

3. In a loose leaf binder, the combination with the shiftable elementsfor expanding and contracting the binder, of shiftable leafholding postsoperatively connected to said elements, a loose leaf having a pluralityof mushroom-shaped slots for accommodating the leaf-holding posts andallowing said posts to be shifted therein for locking said leaf in thebinder.

4. In a loose leaf binder, two pairs of slidably supported platemembers, leaf-holding posts carried thereby, a screw-threaded elementhaving reversely threaded portions, nuts on said reversely threadedportions, links connecting said slidable members and nuts, and a slottedconnection between said links and the sides of the binder.

5. In a loose leaf binder, expansible side members, longitudinalyslidable plates supported on said side members, leaf-holding meanssupported by said plates, a screw element having reversely threadedsections, nuts on said threaded sections and means connecting said nutsand plates and operaable for shifting said plates in advance ofexpanding saidsides.

6. In a loose leaf binder, expansible, and contractable side members,mechanism for contracting and expanding said sides, slidable platescarried by said sides, leaf holding posts carried by said plates, saidplates being connected to said mechanism for shift-- ing movements inadvance of the contracting or expanding movements of the side members.-

7. In a. loose leaf binder, expansible and contractable side members,plates slidably supported on said sides, leaf-holding posts rigidlysupported on said plates, shiftable elements, a device forsimultaneously shifting said elements and means conecting said platesand shiftable elements for successively shifting the said plates andcontracting or expanding said side members.

8. In a loose leaf binder, side members, a plurality of pairs of platesslidably supported on said members, a leaf-holding post carried by eachpair of members, a plurality of'shiftable elements, a device forsimultaneously shifting said elements, and a plurality of pairs oflinks, each pair connecting a pair of plate members With a shiftableelement.

9. In a loose leaf binder, a back, expansible and eontractable sidemembers, two pair of parallel plates slidably supported by said sidesand havin downwardly extending legs with integral ugs at right angles tosald legs, a screw shaft rotatabl anchored in the back of the binder andaving reversely threaded sections, nuts on said threaded sections, linksconnecting said lugs and nuts, and'brackets secured to the sides of thebinder and having slotted lugs superposed on the other lugs forreceiving the link-connecting means.

10. In a loose leaf binder, a back, expansible and contractable sidemembers, a shaft having reversely threaded sections anchored in the backof the binder, nuts on said threaded sections, longitudinally shiftableleaf-holding posts carried by said members, means connecting said postsand nuts, and a lost-motion connection, between said means and the sidesof the binder.

11. In a loose leaf binder, expansible and contractable side members,slidable plates carried thereby, leaf-holding means carried by saidplates, shiftable elements, means for simultaneously shifting saidelements, links connecting said plates and elements and slotted bracketsconnecting said links with the sides of the binder for the purpose setforth.

In testimony whereof we have hereunto subscribed our names in thepresence of two subscribing witnesses:

ARTHUR R. MEYER. ELMER A. REED. Witnesses:

A. W. Bnoss, R. B. ALDERSON.

